"Also, for now, Azure services will be running in a single Microsoft data center (the Quincy, Wash. facility). Sometime next year, Microsoft will expand that to other U.S. data centers and eventually move overseas, though that brings with it its own set of geopolitical issues that Srivastava said that the company would just as soon wait to tackle."

No kidding. Let's not even get into the unique legal challenges that Microsoft faces in the EU (perhaps especially because they are proposing a Windows-only cloud offering?). Just figuring out how to lay out the technical and business policies around data storage and code execution will be a thrill for the be-all, end-all PaaS offering that is Azure.

There was one positive note in this interview, however. Apparently Microsoft has non-.NET code running internally on Azure, and will offer those services sometime next year. Furthermore, services must meet a template today, but template-independent services are currently on the roadmap. Perhaps a move from PaaS to IaaS is also in store?

About Me

James Urquhart is a widely experienced enterprise software field technologist. James started his career programming a manufacturing job tracking system on the Macintosh (circa 1991), and slowly expanded his experience to include distributed systems architectures, online community and identity systems, and most recently utility computing and cloud computing architectures. He has held positions in pre and post sales services, software engineering, product marketing, and program management for the online developer communities of one of the largest developer sites in the world. His admittedly schizophrenic background is driven by a desire to work with technologies that are disruptive, but that simplify computing overall.

James is also an avid blogger. His primary blog, recently renamed "The Wisdom of Clouds" (http://blog.jamesurquhart.com), is focused on utility computing, cloud computing and their effect in enteprises and individuals.

In addition to his online work, James is the father of two children: a son, Owen; and a daughter, Emery; and the husband of the perfect friend and wife, Mia. James lives in Alameda, CA, plays rock and bluegrass guitar.